Amelia had trouble not crying when she found the letter shortly after her husband vanished without a trace. She always knew the past would come back to bite them... Jimmy had saved them from hers, but he never spoke about his own unless he absolutely had to. She knew it was extremely traumatic, because there were some nights he woke her up out of a sound sleep from the memory of it.
It looked like his past had come back, despite everything he did to keep them safe.
After a month with no word from Jimmy, she took Claire to Massachusetts like the letter told her to. Shortly after they entered a building she didn't even realize was there, her pain of loss was quickly turned into outright womanly fury that he had kept something like this from her.
If she ever found her husband she would either try to jump him or bring out the frying pan.
Would it have killed him to mention he was a wizard with enough money to keep them happy for the rest of their lives? When she thought of all the times they had to scrimp and save, only for Jimmy to come up with money just in time... or all the times he spent the day with Claire only for her to come home looking like she was about to fall fast asleep.
Amelia could understand why he sealed Claire's magic. She would have done the same once she had the basic gist of why he left Europe, gold or no. She never would have wanted to drag their daughter into that mess either. But still, why couldn't he have told this to her before he went missing, instead of leaving it to the goblins to tell her his real history?!
Elsewhere with Castiel, Jimmy shuddered. He was almost glad the angel kept him far, far from his homicidal wife.
When Castiel returned, he fully expected to be in control of the body. He had been corrected in the error of his ways, and he would see this through to the end.
Five seconds after entering James Novak's body, he felt the first stirrings of panic creep into his brain.
He had no control.
Castiel struggled...right up until he heard Jimmy's voice.
It won't help, you know. Zachariah might be a seraph, but I outrank everyone but the arch angels, said Jimmy.
How are you doing this?!
Castiel's toneless voice actually had panic. Jimmy chuckled.
You never asked my full name. I might be James Novak now, but you might know me better as Harry James Potter. And I order you to stand down Castiel.
Castiel's eyes (if he had any) widened. Harry Potter? He had possessed Harry Potter?
Still, the programming Zachariah had forced him through kicked in. Castiel was a lowly ranked soldier angel. He had to follow orders of anyone ranked higher than him in heaven. And the Master of Death was a soul so pure that when he was released from the effects of the Hallows that he would ascend to heaven upon death. With how strong he was in life, he would be ranked higher than most as an angel.
Castiel's voice almost became lifeless.
What are your orders, sir.
Good angel. We are going to remake the lines of power. I will not allow Lucifer or Micheal to have their way on earth, contrary to how they feel about the matter. It's time I entered the playing field, said Jimmy. He sent a soothing wave of magic to the confused and scared angel.
Jimmy felt a little guilty that he was strong arming Castiel into obeying. However the sad fact was that if he didn't then it would lead to more damage in the long run because of the angels trying to screw over the humans.
Zachariah was almost suspicious of Castiel. Almost. But the angel was little more than a puppet since he forced him to undergo reeducation.
In between insuring the Winchesters killed Lilith, Castiel was searching for the witch who placed spells on the two. Whoever placed those wards around the brothers was powerful. Powerful enough to tip things in hell's favor.
So far he was having no luck of it...but anyone that powerful would stand out like a sore thumb to an angel.
Another thing that had Zachariah steamed was the fact that Sam seemed more wary of Ruby.
The last time he saw her, he nearly killed her with her own knife. She had been pissed. But the biggest factor was that Sam wasn't drinking as much blood as he should have been.
If he didn't step up his intake, he wouldn't be able to kill Lilith.
Something was going on, and he wanted to know what.
Castiel was not a happy angel. With Jimmy in full control of his body, it left the angel little more than a passenger. It was very uncomfortable.
The only reason he didn't resent the fact Jimmy was in control and not Castiel was because over the two months since his 'reeducation', the man had broken the brainwashing. Unlike the angels who he had served faithfully for centuries, Jimmy cared. He cared about what Castiel thought and even listened to his opinions.
Once the brainwashing was broken, Jimmy even allowed Castiel to retake control from time to time.
It was because of this that Castiel realized Jimmy was right. Something was rotten in heaven at the moment, and he had been too trusting to realize it. Jimmy had known after a few short days in heaven that there was some other plan Zachariah wasn't telling him.
He was little more than a pawn.
Though it was slightly disturbing to watch Jimmy mimic him so easily.
At least Castiel could trust Jimmy. If there was something he didn't like or information he wanted to keep to himself, he didn't lie about it. He flat out told Castiel whether or not he would share the information.
About the only amusing thing was that Castiel had solved part of the mystery that had been angering Micheal for months. Who had robbed the armory of heaven after they stormed hell to retrieve Dean's soul. Micheal was pissed someone had broken in and stolen several important artifacts, particularly Gabriel's horn.
From what Jimmy heard of Gabriel in heaven however, it was likely he could care less who had it. He didn't exactly blame the arch angel for not wanting to be dragged in the middle of this mess.
Ruby glared at Sam and Dean.
"It's time to choose Sam. Either you come with me and we end Lilith, or you stick with your brother," she sneered.
Sam looked like he was openly debating that. Then he looked Ruby dead in the eye and before she could properly react, he stabbed her with the demon killing knife.
"Yeah, not happening."
Ruby lay dead on the floor, and Dean finally spoke.
"Well it's about damn time! I was getting sick of pretending," said Dean.
After hearing the full story from Jimmy (who was pretending to be Castiel to keep the angels from realizing what was really going on) Dean and Sam reluctantly had a nice long talk.
Yes, mistakes had been made (by both parties), but that didn't mean that they should let that come between them. Sam almost went cold turkey on demon's blood until Jimmy flat out told him it was as addictive as certain narcotics. Instead he told him to start taking smaller amounts until he could wean himself off of it.
At the very least it would make the withdrawal a lot less painful.
Ruby had been irritating, and kept trying to goad him into drinking more, but Sam never did. Eventually it reached the point where he was barely drinking a cup of blood.
Sam felt like a weight was off his shoulders. He didn't have to keep stringing Ruby along.
However just because he refused to fall for Ruby's plan never meant Lilith (and heaven) didn't have a backup plan.
Jimmy appeared with Castiel's help, eyes wide and looking pissed.
"Lilith has Claire and Amelia."
Jimmy had told them of his wife and daughter. And the fact he knew Amelia might try to brain him with the frying pan again for not telling her everything. It still made Dean laugh a little that the big bad wizard was terrified of his wife.
Claire and Amelia were terrified. Black eyed people had broken into their home and taken them hostage. The white-eyed woman scared them the most...she told them that they were little more than bait for Jimmy and his 'friends'.
They nearly wept with relief when they saw Jimmy and two others.
"Let them go," commanded Jimmy.
"Or you'll do what, little angel? Smite me?" she sneered.
Jimmy's glare hardened. His eyes, which were normally a comforting brown shifted to a piercing green so deep it could be mistaken for angels.
"Oh no, Castiel isn't going to be playing right now. You shouldn't have taken my wife and daughter hostage, hell spawn," snarled Jimmy. The air around him shifted, and the woman actually looked shocked...and more than a little terrified.
"You...it can't be. You went missing."
"More like I was tired of all the lies my own kind spread. I never disappeared, I just quit caring," said Jimmy flatly.
Amelia almost missed the subtle flick of the wrist in her direction. Almost. She didn't, however, miss the fact she was holding a near perfect copy of her favorite frying pan.
The same pan she damn near brained her husband with one memorable night in the throws of hormonal rage. Jimmy never said anything about it to the paramedics, but he always had that subtle flinch whenever she was truly vexed and within arm's reach of the pan.
That more than anything kept her from falling into her old patterns of behavior. Only someone who really loved you could forgive you for giving them a concussion with a frying pan.
She heard a light voice in the back of her head that sounded exactly like Jimmy.
They're weak against iron and salt.
Amelia took the hint, and while Jimmy had the white-eyed woman distracted, she slammed the pan on the creep holding Claire. He screamed loudly from pain, and he released her daughter instinctively.
Claire didn't need anyone to tell her to run to her father. Amelia barely managed it herself. The two who had arrived with Jimmy made a point to shield the women from the monster who had taken them. Jimmy flicked his right wrist, drawing a wand.
Amelia had become familiar with many new things since the seal on Claire broke. Among them was the use of wands.
Jimmy glared at the woman, his eyes cold.
"I would say to check your facts next time you kidnap a natural witch, but that would imply that I intend to let you live," said Jimmy.
And with that, he became an unstoppable force of death.
The woman's body was slammed against the walls and any number of horrible things happened to her. Then Jimmy did something that had her scream in rage.
He purified her soul before he forced it out of the body. It collapsed on impact.
"Dude...remind me never to piss you off," said Dean.
"Oh believe me, it would take more than your usual snark to annoy me. Castiel isn't the only one with the patience of a saint. I just don't like having my family threatened," said Jimmy, before he had a mischievous smirk, "Besides, you should hear Zachariah right now. He's beyond pissed."
Dean snickered.
"A demon in heaven. I would love to be a fly on that wall," he said.
"It gets even better. If they kill her in heaven, then the final seal is jammed and they'll have to find a replacement. And if they try to send her back for you or 'Harry' to kill her, I'll just send her back. I guarantee you, he's currently having a bitch fit worthy of Lucifer when God introduced humanity."
Dean laughed.
"Jimmy?" said Amelia sweetly. The man turned to his wife, took one look at the iron pan still in her hands, and winced. He knew that tone.
Apparently so did the Winchesters and Claire, because they pointedly went to the other side of the room while Amelia lit into her husband. She was pissed.
"Just when were you going to tell me you were a wizard?!"
"I left that life behind when I met you. Magic is nothing more than a curse I've had to live with since I turned eleven and has given me more trouble that it was worth. I never wanted Claire to suffer the same bigotry and lies I went through."
Amelia silently conceded his point. Two months of hearing even half the stories of Europe were enough to give her an idea of why Jimmy left.
"And what about the fact you never gave me your real name? I had to learn through those goblin creatures that we were technically nobility in Europe!"
"Nobility with a long line of inbreeding who wouldn't hesitate to try and use Claire to further their own line. And I did give you my name, I just didn't tell you about changing my last name. James is my middle name back when I still cared about magic," said Jimmy placidly.
Dean and Sam both winced as Amelia ripped into her husband. Suddenly the fact Jimmy had chosen to help them rather than return home even briefly when Castiel vanished made a lot more sense.
They would have gone into hiding while waiting for her to calm down too, especially when she had a frying pan in her hands.
"So why is he so freaked about the pan?" asked Dean.
"Mom gave him a nasty concussion while she was still pregnant with me during one of her hormonal mood swings. Dad never said a word about it, but he still remembers it," said Claire. She wondered about that herself, but her dad never spoke about why he flinched every time her mother was angry and near the kitchen. So she asked her mom.
Jimmy almost welcomed the pissed off Zachariah's appearance.
